Quanxiu Criminal Investigation Detachment.
The lights were bright inside, with every workstation occupied—some people buried in case files, others listening to the live broadcast of the jumping death case on the television…
Wen Xin gathered her cream-colored shawl around her, following behind Shen Yan, her eyes welded to his broad back. She felt—he was even more attractive now.
It had been four years since they last parted. She wondered how he had been all these years.
There was a scar on his brow bone. She wondered if there were scars elsewhere on his body too.
She patted her cheeks.
Trying to clear her head.
Wen Xin’s mind was entirely on Shen Yan, completely oblivious to the fact that just one meter away, the victim’s husband Qin Lang had pupils as dark as an abyss, his thin lips pressed lightly together.
She followed Shen Yan into a private interrogation room.
Since she was wearing a pleated skirt, she casually draped the shawl over her legs, revealing a purple butterfly-strap camisole, her fair, delicate skin exposed to the air.
Shen Yan lowered his gaze, naturally picked up the air conditioner remote to raise the temperature, then switched on the voice recorder and opened his notebook.
The two sat facing each other with a table between them. The fluorescent light overhead was so bright that even the fine fuzz on their faces was visible.
“Name?”
Wen Xin propped her chin on her hand, tilting her head, her affectionate crescent-moon eyes fixed on his brow bone, a hint of heartache in them.
She dragged out her words in a long, teasing tone, “Officer Shen, you’re so forgetful~”
Shen Yan curved his lips slightly, wrote down two characters in his notebook, then asked again, “Home address?”
“Xizi Bay Residences.”
“Marital status?”
“Officer Shen, does my marital status have anything to do with this case?” Wen Xin wasn’t inclined to cooperate.
“It’s procedure.”
Wen Xin shifted her sitting position, her toes accidentally brushing against his pant leg—and the firm muscle beneath the fabric. A smile curled at the corner of her lips, and she confessed readily, “Officer Shen, I’m unmarried.”
The words fell.
He steered the conversation back on track. “When was the last time you had contact with Xie Aixian and her husband Qin Lang?”
Wen Xin thought seriously for a moment. “Xie Aixian brought me some mung bean cake three days ago. I didn’t eat it—it’s still in my fridge. Her husband stayed inside the house and didn’t come out. That night, I went back to stay at school. When I came back, today’s incident had already happened.”
She expressed deep regret over Xie Aixian’s death.
“Xizi Bay is far from both your school and your company. Why do you live here?”
Wen Xin gazed at him, a flicker of disappointment passing through her eyes.
“Ms. Xu said this was a gift from my father for my eighteenth birthday.”
“The mung bean cake Xie Aixian gave you—we’ll need to take it for testing and fingerprint analysis. You should stay at school for now.” Shen Yan offered a friendly reminder.
Wen Xin shifted her position, leaning in a little closer. “Officer Shen, are you worried about me?”
Shen Yan lifted his eyes to meet her direct gaze, his tone casual and matter-of-fact. “Police and citizens are one family.”
She let out a sigh, leaning back against the chair, a little disappointed. “Fine then. Police-citizen relations it is. That still counts as being connected somehow.”
The words fell.
A growl from her stomach echoed through the cramped space, sounding especially loud.
Just then, an officer opened the interrogation room door and whispered a reminder, “Boss, Sister Xinya ordered takeout—it’s your favorite barbecue, extra spicy.”
At the mention of barbecue.
Wen Xin licked her lips. She was even hungrier now!
Xiao Fang glanced at Wen Xin, feeling like he had seen this girl somewhere before.
“Officer Shen, since the interrogation is over, I won’t disturb your love-filled barbecue.”
Wen Xin picked up her shawl and walked past Shen Yan out of the interrogation room.
She carried a bit of personal emotion with her.
A wafting aroma drifted from the workstations in the office area. In the corner, Officer Chen Chuan was deeply absorbed in a makeup tutorial video, while on the other side, the formidable Meng Xinya rested her right hand on the back of his chair, her gaze following his to the instructional video on the tablet.
“Everyone pay attention—if you’re a fairy with wide cheekbones, you can apply contour here, and then…” The streamer in the video picked up a brush and started working on her face.
Then, she leaned closer to the camera.
Chen Chuan had even taken out a notebook and was writing diligently, jotting down the brand and shade numbers the streamer used without missing a single detail. Meng Xinya patted his shoulder and teased, “Better put that away—the boss is about to come out.”
He glanced toward the interrogation room, where the light was still on, then looked back. “My girlfriend really likes this makeup streamer. She didn’t have time to watch this episode, so she specially asked me to buy this season’s new products.”
Meng Xinya raised a question. “Do you think a person can really transform into someone else with makeup?”
“Of course!”
Chen Chuan flipped to the earliest episodes and handed his phone to Meng Xinya. “See? This is from the very beginning. Back then, Little June imitated classic figures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, like the Queen Mother of the West and Nüwa, and it instantly sparked a wave of imitation style online. After that, she gradually started teaching netizens how to do makeup.”
“Chen Chuan, is it you who’s the fan, or your girlfriend?”
“It’s definitely my girlfriend. Oh, right—let me show you her photo. It’s fresh, taken just today.”
His face lit up as he gushed about Little June, unaware that she was right in front of him.
Chen Chuan pulled up Wen Xin’s photo from today on Weibo—straight hair falling past her collarbones, the ends dyed a light purple, wearing a pearl-purple camisole with a matching purple plaid skirt, revealing fair, long legs. She radiated youthful energy from head to toe.
The more Meng Xinya looked, the more familiar she seemed. She raised her eyes to see Shen Yan walking out of the interrogation room, and Wen Xin standing not far from the workstation.
The world fell silent.
Chen Chuan’s eyes widened, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit an egg, his gaze darting back and forth between the phone screen and reality.
A force landed on his shoulder as Meng Xinya kindly reminded him, “Chuan, stop staring—it’s her.”
Wen Xin smiled softly, like the stars of early June.
That simple gesture caused many officers to look up, their gazes landing on Wen Xin.
A faint smile lingered on her face, the teardrop mole beneath her eye faintly visible, as she greeted them warmly, “Hello, people’s police officers. I’m Wen Xin. You’ve all worked hard.”
“Wen Xin!” Chen Chuan snapped back to reality, calling out her name as he stood up excitedly.
He grabbed his phone, thinking about taking a photo with her to bring back to his girlfriend.
A sharp, cold gaze shot over. Shen Yan stood with one hand on his hip and said coldly, “Let me remind you all: no photos in the station, no leaks of photos. Any leak will be dealt with according to regulations!”
Wen Xin turned back to look at him, gratitude and reassurance in her eyes.
What now? It seemed she hopelessly wanted to tease him again?
But Shen Yan didn’t even look at her.
Helpless, Wen Xin left the police station alone.
Just then.
Jiang Shisan hurried over to report, “Boss, Qin Lang has an alibi. When Xie Aixian was attacked, he was working overtime at the company.”